Electrosurgery is a common procedure for dentists, doctors, and veterinarians. Electrosurgical unipolar handpieces are commercially available that will accommodate a wide variety of electrode shapes and sizes, such as needles, blades, scalpels, balls and wire loops. A conventional unipolar handpiece, such as that available from Ellman International, Inc. of Oceanside, N.Y., is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,918, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference, comprises an elongated electrically-insulating handle with a central bore and having at a front first end an externally threaded part for threadingly engaging an internal thread on an electrically-insulating nose piece also fitted with a central bore. A generally cylindrical metal collet seats in the handle bore at the first end and a collet front portion may project forward from the handle. The collet comprises at its front portion flexible jaws formed by a tapered slitted front with a bore sized to receive the shaft or shank of a conventional electrosurgical electrode, and the nose piece has on its interior a matching tapered portion configured such that, when the nose piece is rotated clockwise (CW) while threadingly engaged to the handle, its tapered interior surface engages and gradually closes down the collet jaws so that the electrode, when inserted into the collet bore, is tightly held by the metal collet and a good electrical connection is made to the collet. The back or second end of the collet is connected to a cable which connects to a conventional electrosurgical instrument supplying electrosurgical currents which, when activated, via a button switch on the handpiece or a foot switch or a switch on the instrument, supplies electrosurgical currents to the collet and via the collet to the electrosurgical electrode. When the dentist or doctor desires to change the shape, size or length of the electrode, it is necessary to loosen the nose piece to unlock the collet, remove the existing electrode, and substitute a new electrode.
These types of known handpieces can cause certain difficulties. These difficulties include: the handle with fingerswitches may be too long for certain procedures. A reason for this length is the presence of a circuit board inside the handle which responds to the pressing of one or more fingerswitch buttons on the handle exterior. The problem is exacerbated when three fingerswitches are provided on the handle, each connected via the circuit board to send a control signal to the electrosurgical instrument to activate a different mode of operation of the instrument. Another problem is that the surgeon may experience difficulties in positioning the active electrode end at the desired orientation at the surgical site. Also, the configuration of the handle, including the cable connection, also may interfere with the surgeon's use of the handpiece.